Inky black to very dark brown and with a significantly higher density and hardness than ordinary oak, bog oak was created when prehistoric forests were submerged under water and silt in anaerobic conditions thousands of years ago.

Fiendishly hard to take through the drying process but reliable and stable when done. A handsome dark and dense timber for guitar building producing good quality instruments.

When carbon dated, bog oak from this source was found to be 5300 years old.

The grading system as detailed below evolved in the tonewood department of Timberline many years ago as an attempt to clearly define quality aspects of guitar back and sides sets. I hope that it will be easily understood and that you will excuse me for using a system unique to this company.

AAA – Quarter sawn wood or nearly so.

AA – Wood that is quartered to one edge, (where the centre joint of the back will be ), gradually straying from the quarter ending up slab sawn at the opposite edge.

A – Wood that is slab sawn, the main slab sawn area being approximately half way across the board.

* - One or more asterisks may be added to the grade mark to indicate wood that is aesthetically more pleasing or desirable by virtue of colour, intensity of figure or fineness of grain.

Fingerboards are sometimes supplied tapered along their length but will be sufficient in size for the instrument they are intended for. A standard guitar fingerboard may for example be 60mm wide at the nut end and 70mm wide at the soundhole end. Taper cutting is especially common with Indian rosewood and Indian ebony because it is part of the export regulations for these products.